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Todd Marshall
Todd "Maniac" Marshall was Christopher Blair's friend and competitor throughout their careers, with Marshall playing the wild younger brother to Blair's reserved personality. Biography Todd Marshall's mother was a pilot and he grew up with planes. Before he was old enough to acquire a pilot's license, he was flying light planes against the winds of Leto.Wing Commander Academy He grew up with Daimon Karnes as his idol. He had watched the holovid The Last Hero about 100 times.The Last One Left It was only natural for him to see the Terran-Kilrathi War as a chance to fly Confederation fighters. Cadet years He joined the Space Naval Academy on Hilthros with the 201st Plebe class. During his Academy years he developed a flamboyant, competitive nature, believing he is the best pilot than everyone else, he dared himself to all challenges, anticipated dogfights and always went for the big kill showing a flair for improvisational flying. He met his friend Christopher Blair to whom he always tried to prove he is a better pilot, as in during a simulation when he decided to attack on his own a Kilrathi Carrier with a Hellcat, despite the objectives of the exercise, until the simulator crashed. Blair was a more reserved and down-to-earth personality and did not pay much attention to Maniac's rants. This angered Maniac who was angered and often bullied and provoked Blair to prove he is the best. During one of those arguments Gwen Bowman threw him on the floor. This was witnessed by the Academy Director and Commodore Geoffrey Tolwyn; seeing the competition between the two Cadets, he assigned them as leaders of opposing teams during an exercise. Maniac invited Maverick to a private dogfight far from the exercise. To teach him a lesson, Maverick kept him occupied while allowing his Blue Team win Maniac's Red Team. Things got complicated with a sabotage which made the ships fire lethal shots, and the presence of a Kilrathi Blockade Runner. Maniac and Maverick jointly attacked and destroyed the ship. After the exercise Tolwyn announced them that they'd continue their training on the under his command.Red and Blue On the Claw Maniac served with the Cadet Wing as a 2nd Lieutenant. He continued to dare Maverick, as in "who will reach the briefing room first". One of their first joint missions assigned by Tolwyn was to scout the M4-21a System. During that mission they witnessed a pirate raid against a Kilrathi Transport, and are captured and taken to Tortuga Base. Maniac was amazed to see that their leader was his childhood hero, Daimon Karnes, turned pirate. In the dungeon the two pilots engaged in another brawl about who was responsible, until Karnes invited them to join a raid, which Maniac seemingly accepted. Equipped with an Epee, he avoided the fight and then turned against Karnes, only to see he was given a "secure" ship, only to have his loyalty tested. Karnes disabled his ship but received an alert sign before destroying it; the Kilrathi attacked the base. Maniac then managed to make some makeshift repairs and returned to Tortuga to rescue Maverick. Tolwyn revealed that the Confederation knew the truth about Karnes but kept this information secret as this revelation would be bad for the people's morale. He ordered them never to mention their adventure.The Last One Left When the Claw was attacked by Grikaths, Maniac (who was not on duty) "borrowed" Bowman's Scimitar and flew to defend the Claw. While outside, he was affected by a solar flare, along with Blair, Goetz and Price. On his return, Maniac was commended by Tolwyn for his initiative to fly Bowman's Scimitar when she fell down. The earlier flare caused them to have delusions and hallucinations. Maniac considered Archer his enemy for sabotaging her ship so he couldn't fire, and for reporting his initiative to Tolwyn. When a security guard arrested Goetz, he attacked him and with him they found the other two. With the other two they hid in a room sharing delusional ideas believing that the Claw was overran by Kilrathi and planned to destroy the ship and escape on Broadswords. In the hangar, Maniac manages to fight the security guards, but was shot and stunned. Later, Guthrig Andropolos did bio-electric stimulation restoring their mental state.The Most Delicate Instrument When Maniac with Maverick and Grunt had a mission to investigate Kilrathi influence on Dioscuri II, he dared Maverick to split up and investigate alone. Maverick was attacked by Dralthis and Maniac and Grunt flew to his assistance. Maniac fell straight into a chasm to make his pursuer crash on its walls. He found Maverick's eject pod and soon after he was apprehended by the primitive Dioscurans who took him to a temple where Maverick was also kept and started arguing. In vain they attepted to explain to the Shaman that they are not the "Lords of Darkness" the Kilrathi told them. The two cadets then were transported to an altar to be sacrificed to the "Lords of the Sky". Then the Kilrathi emerged to receive the "sacrifice" and make the two pilots to carry the food offerings for them. They escaped with help from Grunt. Maniac collected two Kilrathi rifles fell from their pursuers and the trio went to destroy the station which sent the activation signal for the Dioscuran Dralthis. They were surrouned by Kilrathi until Archer came and destroyed the installation dome. When Confederation fores arrived, Grunt was taken to an ambulance saying that they performed like Confederation Marines.Lords of the Sky Maniac, along with Payback, flew a Sabre as Bowman's wingman in a mission to rescue Blair and Paz who crashed on a planet. Maniac detected a Kilrathi Jalkehi (piloted by Garahl nar Hhallas but was ordered by Archer not to engage. They cleared all the Kilrathi presence on the planet.Word of Honor Upon the discovery of a Kilrathi jump buoy, Maniac scanned and uploaded its data to the Claw. Ordered by Tolwyn, he destroyed it, activating thus its defense mechanism. Maniac was pursued by its missiles until saved by Maverick. Returning to the Claw, Maverick mocked Maniac for being necessary to save his life, to which Maniac replied that he won't ever need him. Later, Maniac with other pilots, volunteered to fly a jump reconnaissane with Broadswords. Maniac reacted when Maverick and Payback were chosen, but Tolwyn put him back in line. Envious, Maniac complained that Tolwyn showed favoritism to Maverick because of the Blair family connections. During Maverick's mission, Maniac participated in an ambush around the jump hypernode, with powered down engines and maintaining communication silence. Maverick's Broadsword emerged, but Maniac was unable to rescue him as this would ruin the ambush plan. After the skirmish, Maniac tractored the Broadword back to the Claw. In the sickbay, Blair narrated his experience to Maniac and Payback, about seeing his father, and then imagining that Maniac saved his life, which Maniac denied.Expendable Maniac participated in yet another ambush around the hypernode against Kilrathi scouts. After the skirmish, they detected the arrival of a Confederation task force. Mistaken them for Kilrathi, Maniac told Archer that he'd fly in a Kilrathi Carrier's hangar to gut it from the inside, to be scolded by Archer for his childish behaviour. Returning to the Claw, he once more teased Maverick for being chosen by Tolwyn to stay on the bridge during the ambush and "polishing Tolwyn's brass". Later they engaged a task force led by Garahl, which was to be lured into an ambush near Seti Beta I coordinated by Admiral Rhea Bergstrom. The plan failed and Maniac with the other pilots flew to rescue the survivors of the task force.Chain of Command Seeing that Archer suffered from psychological breakdown after having to kill Blizzard, he considered Guthrig Andropolos crazy for assigning her unfit for duty. Angrily, he removed Blizzard's medallion from Archer telling her to let go. Maniac flew under Maverick to support the Hospital Ship Pleiku and escort it back to the Claw. Maverick's sensor picked up a ship, Maniac suggested that someone must stay behind to guard the hospital. Knowing that this would enrage Maniac, Maverick ordered him to stay behind, forcing him to miss the action. While patroling, Maniac heard his comrades' intercommunications and decided to go and assist them, when approached by a . After a brief show of flying and accuracy, his ship is destroyed, and Maniac had to dock his eject pod with the Hospital's airlock. Inside, he assisted Dr. Kyle with the wounded and operated a manual lung pump. He warned Kyle that the Kilrathi were boarding the Hospital and with his assistance, after sealing the medical bay from the main ship, Maniac operated a pod, which broke the glass and hurled into space, hitting and destroying the Corvette as a projectile. The shockwave broke the windows, causing the Kilrathi invaders to be sucked out in space. Maniac and the doctor were rescued by two nurses from the airlock. Back in the Claw, Maniac returned Blizzard's medallion to Archer, who decided to send it to his family. Tolwyn recommended them the Flying Cross for saving a ship. Maniac however recommended it to the doctor and the nurses of the Pleiku, being the real heroes; this noble action made him embarassed.Walking Wounded Maniac was soon perceived by his comrades as an aggressive pilot and glory hound. While flying with Emil Zoharian, and while going against a Kilrathi Destroyer, "Easy" was killed by a stealth Strakha fighter. While Maniac did not read a Kilrathi presence in his sensors, he was considered responsible for Easy's death and was grounded, scolded and shunned by the crew of the Claw, including Maverick. Soon Maverick was also grounded for failing to detect the presence of an enemy ship (again, a Strakha) and the two friends asked the opinion of Maya McEaddence. As Tolwyn would not listen to their claims of a stealh ship, they decided to act on their own. Maya feigned a malfunction in the derelict transport and Maverick with Maniac used it as a bait for the stealth fighter. Indeed, once the transport was attacked by the Strakha, the two piots emerged and disabled the Strakha. The Kilrathi pilot refused to surrender and self-destroyed his ship. The duo were soon engaged by Sarthas. Maverick was shot but Maniac refused to leave "his wingman" behind. They were joined by Payback and Grunt. Tolwyn admitted his mistake of not believing their reports, and decided to forget the event. Archer also apologised to Maniac for believing that he sacrificed Easy for another kill.Invisible Enemy Maniac participated in a raid against a Kilrathi Salvage Tug towing a Sleep Ship, and took it to the Claw. While the Cadets were preparing to descend to Oasis for a shore leave, an alien emerged and requested to use one of their ships. Angered that someone wanted to fly his ship, Maniac attacked the alien, but was pushed back by an electrical beam, before being apprehended and taken to the brig. On Oasis, Maniac was not very fond of the Oasians' custom of hugging. He approached Archer who was pondering whether it's right to participate in a war. Maniac showed to her that he just enjoys what he does and doesn't let coplex thought come in the way of his game. These words simply angered Archer who did not think of killing a game. Soon they were joined by Kilrathi visitors. Maniac tried to harass Drak nar Kul'ragh who threw him down, claiming that "the Sphere" will be theirs soon. Later the Cadets learned from Tolwyn that the alien had escaped and kidnapped Maverick. As he would not spare fighter, he flew with Archer to his rescue, and found them at a summit where the Sphere was kept. They fought off Sarthas who came to steal the Sphere. Maniac lost his ship, but the Kilrathi forces were destroyed by the alien's power.Recreation Maniac with Maverick and Archer were sent to Greenhouse to investigate if the sciene base there is safe. On their way they encountered some Grikaths which Maniac happily engaged. One survivor made it to the planet with an eject pod. Not finding his trace, they spent some time in the base, and the two male pilots were infatuated by the striking leader, Bronwyn Sing, who kept the pilots occupied by encouraging their competitiveness and jealousy, and their wish to impress her. Maniac, when asked by Sing, revealed the enabling code of his Scimitar. Archer notied Sing's game and while investigating for the Kilrathi, she mentioned it to Maniac, who attributed it to Archer's female jealousy. Soon after Maniac had to rescue Archer who was attacked by a robotic walker used by the scientists. That night, Maverick and Maniac found Archer fighting with Sing, who revealed her plan to end the war by spreading a plague among the Kilrathi, who would infect the others by escaping on Maniac's ship. Maniac stayed behind with Sing as the two others went to stop the Kilrathi pilot, and the plague.On Both Your Houses When Maverick crashed on a planet, Maniac volunteered to fly to his rescue, which Tolwyn refused. Instead he resumed Maverick's mission with Archer. Maniac however disobeyed Tolwyn's orders and proceeded to the planet, so as to save Maverick "and remind it to him every day for the rest of his life". Archer was forced to follow him. Maverick, assisted by Bokh nar Ragitika, contacted Maniac and coordinated an attack on the Kilrathi force so that he can escape. Maniac later participated in the attack against the Kilrathi Carrier, during which he lost his wingman, Razor.Price of Victory Maniac participated in Tolwyn's ruse to enter the Dolos system undetected, by piloting a captured Sartha and luring the Kilrathi guards to their destruction without reporting to the Kilrathi force. On the briefing about the operation of invading Dolos, Maniac once more complained to Tolwyn for not choosing him, who put him back in line. Because of his optimism and enthusiasm about the assault against Agon Ra Sivar, Tolwyn appointed him leader of the task force. During the attack he ordered Archer and Jazzman straight into the Dreadnaught, but Jazzman was lost. The Dreadnaught's shields were still up so he decided to perform a run to the hangar alone. Joined by Archer, Payback and Hyena, he entered the hangar, and begun a shooting spree "for Jazzman" and emerged out of the hangar. After the battle and the destruction of the Dreadnaught, Maniac was among those present in the ceremony honoring the casualties of the battle and Maverick's awarding the Gold Wings.Glory of Sivar Marshall was one of the highest-rated Acadamy graduates in the '54 class, and his rivalry with Blair had already been kindled by the time both graduated and were transferred to the . Vega Campaign He flew with Blair in the Brimstone System.Wing Commander I, Brimstone series :He and Turtle were assigned to fly in the Killer Bees to fend off a Kilrathi attack against the ''Claw in Chengdu System.'' During the Vega Campaign he accidentally destroyed a when he pursued a Dralthi rushing toward one of the transports. He locked a heat-seeking missile on its exhaust and launched, only to lose its lock on the enemy and hit the transport. Its engines were severely damaged,and the ship was soon destroyed.Wing Commander I, Rostov series One tale, circulated endlessly during the last five years of the war, told of a time when Maniac, leading a recon wing, came across two Kilrathi destroyers. Lacking anywhere near the weapons to deal with these two craft, any other pilot would have bugged out; but Maniac, through sheer flying alone, managed to coax the two capital ships into a fatal collision. Nobody has any idea how he did it. But the demands of his reputation and high-risk flight patterns eventually took their toll; partway through the Vega campaign he suffered a nervous breakdown and had to be rotated off of frontline service. Once pieced back together, Marshall was assigned as senior pilot in the new Morningstar Heavy Fighter flight-test program. Here he reunited with Blair aboard the (the Claw being long gone) and was peripherally involved in the Mandarin affair. He was in command of the newly-formed Wild Eagles Squadron, which included pilots Jeffrey Burkheimer, Markham Colt, and Maria Grimaldi. Unfortunately, Grimaldi betrayed Confed for the Mandarins and in her successful attempt to steal a Morningstar, she murdered Colt and left Burkheimer incapable of flying. Grimaldi herself was eventually killed and the Morningstar destroyed, but Maniac was distraught to lose an entire squadron that had yet to enter combat duty. After the Battle of Earth, he was assigned to the , where he flew alongside Blair in a number of missions, including the doomed Behemoth defense and the Temblor Bomb run at Kilrah. He was, in fact, the only one of Blair's wingmen to survive the Temblor run; he ejected in Kilrah's atmosphere and was captured and 'interrogated' until the Temblor Bomb ended the war. Instead of deactivating into the reserves, Marshall decided to remain in the cockpit, and was aboard the when Blair was assigned there to investigate the Border Worlds' alleged aggressions. He defected to the Border Worlds alongside Blair, Capt. William Eisen and Lt. Winston Chang, and flew in the Black Lance campaign. He continued in active service for over a decade and was aboard the during the Nephilim campaign. Temporarily achieving the long-desired position of squadron commander, he led the Black Widow squadron for a short time before renouncing the post and its associated responsibilities. He was in space on Blair's and Casey's respective wings when the Savior of the Confederation made his final jump. Now over fifty years old, the only major hero of the Kilrathi War who is still in the cockpit, he is finally considering retirement. He is also working on his memoirs: Me: The Life and Battles of "Maniac" Marshall. Category:Characters Character His dazzling flying skills only excelled, but he became notoriously unreliable, preferring to "do his own thing" than obey a wing-leader's orders... or pleas for assistance. He believed that the Kilrathi already know the Terran tactics and rules, so in order to outwit and outfight them, pilots have to go beyond that. Regardless, his abilities were top-notch. During the entire duration of his flight career, Maniac amassed more than 2,000 confirmed kills. Other media *In the 1999 , Maniac was played by actor Matthew Lillard. *Maniac also appears in the Heart of the Tiger, Price of Freedom and film novelizations. *Maniac was played in Heart of the Tiger, The Price of Freedom, Prophecy and Academy by Thomas F. Wilson, best known for his portrayal of "Biff" in the Back to the Future movies. (Mark Hamill initially auditioned for this role, and was sorry to lose it, as he felt that Maniac was by far the more amusing character.) *McCubbin, Chris. Wing Commander Prophecy: The Official Strategy Guide. Prima, 1997. ISBN 0-7615-1207-1. Category:Confederation pilots